Apparatus for recording and/or reproducing optical disk

ABSTRACT

An optical disk and a method of recording data in the optical disk are provided. When data is overwritten on a recordable and/or reproducible optical disk, the method includes performing linking in front of a physical cluster from which overwriting starts. According to the method, when overwriting is performed on a portion of an optical disk in which data has been recorded, or when overwriting is performed on a portion including a defective area, linking is performed in front of the portion on which the overwriting is performed or behind the defective area, thereby realizing reliable data recording and reproducing.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This is a continuation application of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 10/138,533, filed May 6, 2002 and currently pending, thedisclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] 1. Field of the Invention

[0003] The present invention relates to a high-density optical disk anda method of recording data in the high-density optical disk, and moreparticularly, to an optical disk in which data is continuously recordedand then linking is defined at a portion where an overwriting areastarts, and a method of recording data in the optical disk.

[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0005] Generally, optical disks are widely employed as informationrecording media by optical pickup apparatuses for recording orreproducing information in a noncontact way and are classified intocompact disks (CDs) and digital versatile disks (DVDs) according toinformation-recording capacity. Representative recordable, erasable, andreproducible optical disks are 650 MB compact disc recordables (CD-Rs),CD-rewritables (RWs), and 4.7 GB DVD-RWs. Furthermore, 23 GB highdefinition (HD)-DVDs are under development

[0006] In the case of CD-RWs, a basic recording unit in which apredetermined capacity of data can be recorded is referred to as apacket, and the structure of the packet is shown in FIG. 1. In thepacket, a plurality of run-in blocks 103 are defined in front of a userdata block 105 in which user data is recorded, and a plurality ofrun-out blocks 110 are defined behind the user data block 105. Inaddition, a link block 100 is defined in front of the basic recordingunit to allow continuous recording. When the user data block 105partially includes a defective area in which data cannot be recorded,recording must be terminated in front of this defective area. However,an optical recording/reproducing method or disk structure with respectto such defective area is not defined. Accordingly, processing ondefective areas can be different depending upon manufacturers of disksor recording and reproducing apparatuses, thereby causes disks to beincompatible with recording and reproducing apparatuses. This problemmay commonly occur in CD family recording media, DVD family recordingmedia, and HD-DVD family recording media. Therefore, standardization ofoptical disks is required.

[0007] This applicant have disclosed a method of processing a defectivearea by applying a linking scheme having predetermined rules to aposition right behind the defective area on a DVD-RW and a recordingmedium in Korean Patent Publication No. 2000-75374.

[0008] However, for HD-DVDs having a capacity of 23 GB or greater whichwill be produced in the future, a method of processing a defective areaand a disk structure related thereto have not never been defined.Moreover, a recording method at positions where overwriting starts andends when overwriting occurs in a partial area in a data recording areahas not been defined. Accordingly, as described above, compatibilityproblems occur, resulting in unreliable recording and reproducing.Therefore, new definitions of and standards for a recording andreproducing method and a disk structure for a case where overwriting isperformed or defective areas are formed during overwriting in HD-DVDsare desired.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0009] To solve the above-described problems, it is a first object ofthe present invention to provide an optical disk in which linking occursat a position where overwriting starts and in which recording end datafor terminating the recording is recorded at a position whereoverwriting ends, and a method of recording data in the optical disk,thereby securing compatibility between disks and disk drives andimproving recording and reproducing performance on high-density opticaldisks.

[0010] It is a second object of the present invention to provide anoptical disk in which when a defective area is produced duringoverwriting, recoding end data for terminating the recording is recordedin front of the defective area and linking occurs behind the defectivearea, and a method of recording data in the optical disk, therebyrealizing smooth, continuous recording and reproducing.

[0011] To achieve the first object of the present invention, there isprovided a method of recording data on a recordable and/or reproducibleoptical disk when data is overwritten. The method includes the step ofperforming linking in front of a physical cluster from which overwritingstarts.

[0012] The method further includes the step of recording a guard3 forterminating the recording in a portion following a physical cluster inwhich overwriting ends.

[0013] The linking is performed between adjacent run-out and run-in infront of the physical cluster from which overwriting starts, and arun-in and a run-out are formed respectively in front of and behindevery physical clusters to allow the data to be accurately recorded.

[0014] The run-in and the run-out comprise a guard1 and a guard2,respectively, for protecting user data.

[0015] The guard3 for terminating the recording is recorded in a run-innext to a run-out following the physical cluster in which overwritingends, and a run-in and a run-out are formed respectively in front of andbehind every physical clusters to allow the data to be accuratelyrecorded.

[0016] To achieve the second object of the present invention, there isprovided a method of recording data on a recordable and/or reproducibleoptical disk when the data is overwritten. The method includes the stepsof performing linking in front of a physical cluster from whichoverwriting starts when the overwriting is performed after data has beenrecorded in the optical disk in units of physical clusters; and when adefective area on which recording cannot be performed is included in anarea on which overwriting is performed, recording a guard3 forterminating the recording in a portion in front of the defective area.

[0017] The method further includes the step of performing linking behindthe defective area.

[0018] To achieve the first object of the present invention, there isalso provided an optical disk which data can be recorded in andreproduced from. The optical disk includes a plurality of physicalclusters in which data is recorded; and a plurality of run-ins andrun-outs provided in front of and behind the physical clusters to allowdata to be accurately recorded. When overwriting is performed in unitsof physical clusters, linking is performed between a run-in and anadjacent run-out in front of a physical cluster from which theoverwriting starts.

[0019] To achieve the second object of the present invention, there isalso provided an optical disk which data can be recorded in andreproduced from. The optical disk includes a plurality of physicalclusters in which data is recorded; a plurality of run-ins and run-outsprovided in front of and behind the physical clusters to allow data tobe accurately recorded; and a defective area in which a defect occursbefore data is recorded or while data is being recorded. Whenoverwriting is performed on a partial area including the defective areaand at least one physical cluster, linking is performed between a run-inand an adjacent run-out in front of the partial area on which theoverwriting is performed.

[0020] Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be setforth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will beobvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of theinvention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] These and other objects and advantages of the invention willbecome apparent and more readily appreciated from the followingdescription of the preferred embodiments, taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings of which:

[0022]FIG. 1 is a diagram of a structure of a basic recording unitapplied to a conventional compact disc rewritable (CD-RW);

[0023]FIG. 2A is a diagram of a recording structure in which data isrecorded in a single physical cluster;

[0024]FIG. 2B is a diagram of a recording structure in which data iscontinuously recorded in a plurality of physical clusters;

[0025]FIG. 3A is a diagram of a recording structure in which a portionwhere data is overwritten on an optical disk according to a firstembodiment of the present invention is marked;

[0026]FIG. 3B is a diagram for explaining an optical disk and a methodof recording data therein according to the first embodiment of thepresent invention;

[0027]FIG. 4A is a diagram of a recording structure in which a portionwhere data is overwritten on an optical disk according to a secondembodiment of the present invention is marked;

[0028]FIG. 4B is a diagram for explaining an optical disk and a methodof recording data therein according to the second embodiment of thepresent invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0029] Reference will now made in detail to the present preferredembodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustratedin the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer tothe like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below inorder to explain the present invention by referring to the figures.

[0030]FIG. 2A shows a case where data is recorded at a single physicalcluster 5 in a recordable and/or reproducible high-density optical disk.FIG. 2B shows a case where data is continuously recorded at a pluralityof physical clusters 15 in a recordable and/or reproducible high-densityoptical disk. Each of the physical clusters 5 and 15 includes 32 frameseach having a capacity of 2 KB, a sync frame, data for controlling DCoffsets, and an error correction code (ECC) for correcting errors. Here,the ECC may have a size of 64 KB.

[0031] Run-ins 3 and 13 are defined in front of the respective physicalclusters 5 and 15, and run-outs 8 and 18 are defined behind therespective physical clusters 5 and 15. These run-ins 3 and 13 and therun-outs 8 and 18 are provided for accurately recording data in orreproducing data from the physical clusters 5 and 15.

[0032] Each of the run-ins 13 can include a guard1 13 a having apredetermined pattern for overcoming overwriting due to a change in adata recording start point and a pre-amble 13 b for signal processingsuch as locking or synchronizing. Each of the run-outs 18 can include apost-amble 18 a for signal processing and a guard2 18 b having apredetermined pattern for overcoming overwriting due to a change in adata recording start point. Consequently, the guard1 13 a and the guard218 b act as buffers for protecting user data.

[0033] Guards3 10 and 20 for, as an example, ensuring the buffer area oflaser power instability when high power writing ends are provided atpositions where recording ends. Data recording or reproducing withrespect to a basic recording unit in which data of a predeterminedcapacity is recorded is completed with the guards3 10 and 20. In theabove description, a physical cluster has been employed as a minimumrecording unit in which user data is recorded, but additionally, asector, an ECC block, or a frame can be employed in a minimum recordingunit.

[0034]FIG. 3A shows a case where overwriting is performed on a physicalcluster 15A in which data has been continuously recorded. A run-in isprovided in front of each of the physical clusters, and a run-out isprovided behind each of the physical clusters. A guard3 20 is providedat a position where recording ends. For example, when overwriting isperformed in an area A in FIG. 3A, a run-in, a physical cluster, and arun-out in the overwriting area are denoted by reference characters 13A,15A, and 18A, respectively. Here, in a method of recording data in anoptical disk according to a first embodiment of the present invention,as shown in FIG. 3B, linking occurs between a run-in 13A and a run-out18′ in front of an overwriting area A.

[0035] Linking allows recording to be performed smoothly whenoverwriting erroneously starts from a portion of the run-out 18′ or arun-in 13A of FIG. 3A where overwriting should not be performed in thecase where overwriting is performed on a part of a disk. In other words,linking is performed by performing error correction in front of thephysical cluster 15A in which overwriting is performed in order tocompensate for a case in which overwriting does not start at an exactrecording start point. A bidirectional arrow between the run-in 13A andthe run-out 18′ in front of the overwriting area A in FIG. 3B indicateslinking.

[0036] More specifically, linking can be performed by recording a guard218 b′ in the run-out 18′. It is preferable that the guard2 18 b′ in therun-out 18′ and the guard3 20 have the same structure, that is, the samepattern and length. For example, if the guard3 20 has a length of atleast 300 channelbits and a continuous pattern including 3T and 5T, itis preferable to configure the guard2 18 b′ to have a length of at least300 channelbits and a continuous pattern including 3T and 5T. Here, 3Tand 5T indicate length units of marks recorded in a disk. Configuringthe guard2 18 b′ in the same structure as the guard3 20 is advantageousin that a linking scheme suggested for the guard3 20 can be applied tothe guard2 18 b′ as it is.

[0037] Overwriting is smoothly performed by performing linking betweenthe run-in 13A and the run-out 18′ in front of the overwriting area A.Next, recoding or reproducing is performed on the physical cluster 15Afollowing the run-in 13A, and a guard3 19 for terminating the recordingis recorded in the run-in 13′ following the run-out 18A whereoverwriting ends.

[0038] Here, the physical cluster 15A, for example, includes 496recording frames 15A-1, 15A-2, . . . 15A-496 illustrated behind therun-in 13A in FIG. 3B. Reference numeral 15-496 denotes a 496-threcording frame of the physical cluster 15 in front of the run-out 18′.

[0039] In the first embodiment, a case where overwriting is performed ona single physical cluster has been described, but the same manner isapplied to a case where overwriting is continuously performed on aplurality of physical clusters. In other words, when overwriting isperformed on a plurality of physical clusters, linking is performedbetween a run-out and a run-in in front of an overwriting area, and aguard3 is recorded in a run-in behind an overwriting area.

[0040] The following description concerns an optical disk and arecording method according to a second embodiment of the presentinvention. FIG. 4A shows a case where a defective area 26 on whichrecording and reproducing cannot be performed is detected while data iscontinuously recorded in or reproduced from a plurality of physicalclusters 25B in a recordable and/or reproducible high-density opticaldisk. Here, the address of the defective area 26 is recorded in a defectlist field. The defective area 26 can be detected during recording,reproducing, or disk verification. Run-ins 23 and 23B are provided infront of the physical clusters 25 and 25B, respectively, and run-outs28′ and 28B are provided behind the physical clusters 25 and 25B.

[0041] A recording method according to the second embodiment of thepresent invention is applied when data is overwritten in a recordingarea in which data has been recorded in an optical disk including thedefective area 26. In FIG. 4A, an overwriting area is denoted by areference character B. Run-ins, physical clusters, and run-outs withinthe overwriting area B are denoted by reference characters including B.

[0042] Linking is performed between a run-in 23B and a run-out 28′ infront of the overwriting area B in FIG. 4B. Linking is indicated bybidirectional arrows in FIG. 4B. Linking has been described above withreference to FIG. 3B, and thus a detailed description thereof will beomitted.

[0043] Next, since recording cannot be performed on the defective area26, recording end data for terminating the recording is recorded in arun-in 23B′ right in front of the defective area 26. A guard3 24, i.e.,recording end data, may be configured in the same manner as the guard320 shown in FIG. 2B. For example, the guard3 20 can be configured tohave a length of at least 300 channelbits and a continuous patternincluding 3T and 5T, and it is preferable to configure the recording enddata to have the same length and pattern as the guard3 20.

[0044] Next, when overwriting is started again behind the defective area26, linking is performed between a run-out 28B′ and a run-in 23B″following the defective area 26, as indicated by a bidirectional arrowtherebetween. Linking is performed in the same manner as describedabove. A guard3 29, as an example, ensuring the buffer area of laserpower instability when high power writing ends is recorded in a run-in23′ following a last run-out 28B″ of the overwriting area B.

[0045] Referring to FIGS. 3B and 4B, an optical disk according to thepresent invention is designed to allow linking to occur between therun-outs 18′ and 28′ and the run-ins 13A and 23B in front of theoverwriting areas A and B when overwriting is performed. In the opticaldisk, recording end data, for example, a guard3 24, for terminating therecording is recorded in front of the defective area 26.

[0046] In addition, the optical disk of the present invention isdesigned to allow linking to occur between the run-out 28B′ and therun-in 23B″ following the defective area 26. In the optical disk,guards3 19 and 29 are recorded behind the last run-outs 18A and 28B″,respectively, of the overwriting areas A and B.

[0047] When data is recorded in or reproduced from an optical diskaccording to the present invention, a light source having a celadongreen wavelength and an objective lens having a numerical aperture (NA)of at least 0.7 are used. In addition, an optical disk according to thepresent invention is characterized by having a track pitch of no greaterthan 0.35 μm, a minimum recording mark having a length of no greaterthan 0.2 μm, an ECC recording unit of at least 32 KB, and a recordingcapacity of at least 20 GB.

[0048] As described above, the present invention can realize stable andreliable data recording and reproducing by performing linking whenoverwriting is performed after data has been continuously recorded in ahigh-density optical disk or when overwriting is performed on ahigh-density optical disk including a defective area, and recording aguard3, i.e., recording end data, at an appropriate position.

[0049] In an optical disk and a method of recording data in the opticaldisk according to the present invention, when overwriting is performedon a portion of the optical disk in which data has been recorded, orwhen overwriting is performed on a portion including a defective area,linking is performed in front of the portion on which the overwriting isperformed or behind the defective area, thereby realizing reliable datarecording and reproducing. In addition, a guard3 is recorded in aportion in front of the defective area and in a portion behind anoverwriting area to stop the recording. The present invention proposesstandards for overwriting and processing defective areas with respect tohigh-density optical disks in which data is continuously recorded orreproduced, thereby securing compatibility between disks and disk drivesand improving recording and reproducing performance on high-densityoptical disks.

[0050] Although a few preferred embodiments of the present inventionhave been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilledin the art that changes may be made in this embodiment without departingfrom the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which isdefined in the claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for recording and/or reproducingdata with respect to a recordable and/or reproducible optical disk, theapparatus comprising: an optical pickup which emits a light beam used torecord and/or reproduce the data with respect to the optical disk; and aprocessor which records and/or reproduces the data with respect to theoptical disk using the optical pickup, and, when the data is overwrittenduring recording, performs linking in front of a physical cluster fromwhich overwriting starts.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein theprocessor further records a guard3 in a portion following a physicalcluster in which overwriting ends, and the processor uses the guard3 interminating the recording.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein thelinking is performed between adjacent run-out and run-in in front of thephysical cluster from which overwriting starts, and a run-in and arun-out are formed respectively in front of and behind every physicalcluster to allow the processor to accurately record the data.
 4. Theapparatus of claim 3, wherein the run-in and the run-out comprise aguard1 and a guard2, respectively, and the processor uses the guard1 andguard2 to protect user data.
 5. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein theguard3 for terminating the recording is recorded by the processor in arun-in next to a run-out following the physical cluster in whichoverwriting ends, and the processor forms a run-in and a run-outrespectively in front of and behind every physical cluster to allow theprocessor to accurately record the data.
 6. The apparatus of claim 5,wherein the guard2 and the guard3 have the same length and pattern. 7.The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the guard3 has a length of at least300 channelbits and a continuous pattern including at least 3T and 5T.8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the optical pickup includes a lightsource emitting the light beam of a celadon green wavelength for usewith recording and/or reproducing the data with respect to the opticaldisk.
 9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the optical pickup includesan objective lens having a numerical aperture of at least 0.7 for use infocusing the light beam on the optical disk when the data is recorded inor reproduced from the optical disk.
 10. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the optical disk has a track pitch of no greater than 0.35 μm, aminimum recording mark having a length of no greater than 0.2 μm, and anerror correction code (ECC) recording unit of at least 32 KB.
 11. Theapparatus of claim 5, wherein the optical disk has a track pitch of nogreater than 0.35 μm, a minimum recording mark having a length of nogreater than 0.2 μm, and an error correction code (ECC) recording unitof at least 32 KB.
 12. An apparatus for recording and/or reproducingdata on a recordable and/or reproducible optical disk, the apparatuscomprising: an optical pickup which emits a light beam used to recordand/or reproduce the data with respect to the optical disk; and aprocessor which records and/or reproduces the data with respect to theoptical disk using the optical pickup, when the data is overwritten,performs linking in front of a physical cluster from which overwritingstarts when the overwriting is performed after data has been recorded inthe optical disk in units of physical clusters, and, when a defectivearea on which recording cannot be performed is included in an area onwhich overwriting is performed, records a guard3 for terminating therecording in a portion in front of the defective area.
 13. The apparatusof claim 12, wherein the processor further performs linking behind thedefective area.
 14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the processorforms a run-in and a run-out respectively in front of and behind everyphysical cluster to allow the processor to accurately record the data.15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the processor performs thelinking between a run-in adjacent a run-out following the defectivearea.
 16. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the processor performs thelinking between a run-in and an adjacent run-out in front of the partialarea on which overwriting is performed.
 17. The apparatus of claim 15,wherein the run-in and the run-out comprise a guard1 and a guard2,respectively, for use by the processor in protecting user data.
 18. Theapparatus of claim 17, wherein the guard2 and the guard3 have the samelength and pattern.
 19. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the guard3has a length of at least 300 channelbits and a continuous patternincluding at least 3T and 5T.
 20. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein theprocessor further records a guard3 in a portion following a physicalcluster in which overwriting ends, and the processor uses the guard3 interminating the recording.
 21. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein theprocessor records the guard3 for terminating the recording in a run-innext to a run-out following the physical cluster in which overwritingends, and forms a run-in and a run-out respectively in front of andbehind every physical cluster to allow the data to be accuratelyrecorded.
 22. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the optical pickupincludes a light source emitting the light beam having a celadon greenwavelength for use when the data is recorded in or reproduced from theoptical disk.
 23. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the optical pickupincludes an objective lens having a numerical aperture of at least 0.7for use in focusing the light beam on the optical disk when the data isrecorded in or reproduced from the optical disk.
 24. The apparatus ofclaim 12, wherein the optical disk has a track pitch of no greater than0.35 μm, a minimum recording mark having a length of no greater than 0.2μm, and an error correction code (ECC) recording unit of at least 32 KB.25. An apparatus for recording and/or reproducing data with respect to arecordable and/or reproducible optical disk comprising a plurality ofphysical clusters in which data is recorded, and a plurality of run-insand run-outs provided in front of and behind the physical clusters toallow data to be accurately recorded, the apparatus comprising: anoptical pickup which emits a light beam used to record and/or reproducethe data with respect to the optical disk; and a processor which recordsand/or reproduces the data with respect to the optical disk using theoptical pickup, and, when overwriting is performed in units of physicalclusters, performs linking between a run-in and an adjacent run-out infront of a physical cluster from which the overwriting starts.
 26. Theapparatus of claim 25, wherein the processor records a guard3 in arun-in following a physical cluster in which the overwriting ends whenthe overwriting is performed in units of physical clusters, and theprocessor uses the guard3 in terminating the recording.
 27. Theapparatus of claim 25, wherein each of the run-ins comprises a guard1,and each of the run-outs comprises a guard2, which the processor uses toprotect user data.
 28. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the guard2 andthe guard3 have the same length and pattern.
 29. The apparatus of claim28, wherein the guard3 has a length of at least 300 channelbits and acontinuous pattern including at least 3T and 5T.
 30. The apparatus ofclaim 25, wherein the optical pickup includes a light source emittingthe light beam having a celadon green wavelength for use when the datais recorded in or reproduced from the optical disk.
 31. The apparatus ofclaim 25, wherein the optical pickup includes an objective lens having anumerical aperture of at least 0.7 for use in focusing the light beam onthe optical disk when the data is recorded in or reproduced from theoptical disk.
 32. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the optical diskhas a track pitch of no greater than 0.35 μm, a minimum recording markhaving a length of no greater than 0.2 μm, and an error correction code(ECC) recording unit of at least 32 KB.
 33. An apparatus for recordingand/or reproducing data with respect to a recordable and/or reproducibleoptical disk comprising a plurality of physical clusters in which datais recorded, a plurality of run-ins and run-outs provided in front ofand behind the physical clusters to allow data to be accuratelyrecorded, and a defective area in which a defect occurs before data isrecorded or while data is being recorded, the apparatus comprising: anoptical pickup which emits a light beam used to record and/or reproducethe data with respect to the optical disk; and a processor which recordsand/or reproduces the data with respect to the optical disk using theoptical pickup, and, when overwriting is performed on a partial areaincluding the defective area and at least one physical cluster, performslinking between a run-in and an adjacent run-out in front of the partialarea on which the overwriting is performed.
 34. The apparatus of claim33, wherein the processor records a guard3 in a position in front of thedefective area, and the processor uses the guard3 in terminating therecording.
 35. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the processor recordsa guard3 in a run-in following the partial area on which overwriting isperformed, and the processor uses the guard3 in terminating therecording.
 36. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the processor performsthe linking between a run-out adjacent a run-in following the defectivearea.
 37. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the processor performs thelinking between a run-out adjacent and a run-in following the defectivearea.
 38. The apparatus of claim 36, wherein each of the run-inscomprises a guard1, and each of the run-outs comprises guard2, which theprocessor uses to protect user data.
 39. The apparatus of claim 38,wherein the guard2 and the guard3 have the same length and pattern. 40.The apparatus of claim 39, wherein the guard3 has a length of at least300 channelbits and a continuous pattern including at least 3T and 5T.41. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the optical pickup includes alight source emitting the light beam having a celadon green wavelengthfor use when the data is recorded in or reproduced from the opticaldisk.
 42. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the optical pickup includesa light source emitting the light beam having a celadon green wavelengthfor use when the data is recorded in or reproduced from the opticaldisk.
 43. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the optical pickup includesan objective lens having a numerical aperture of at least 0.7 for use infocusing the light beam on the optical disk when the data is recorded inor reproduced from the optical disk.
 44. The apparatus of claim 35,wherein the optical pickup includes an objective lens having a numericalaperture of at least 0.7 for use in focusing the light beam on theoptical disk when the data is recorded in or reproduced from the opticaldisk.
 45. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the optical disk has atrack pitch of no greater than 0.35 μm, a minimum recording mark havinga length of no greater than 0.2 μm, and an error correction code (ECC)recording unit of at least 32 KB.
 46. The apparatus of claim 35, whereinthe optical disk has a track pitch of no greater than 0.35 μm, a minimumrecording mark having a length of no greater than 0.2 μm, and an errorcorrection code (ECC) recording unit of at least 32 KB.
 47. Theapparatus of claim 2, wherein the processor performs linking betweenadjacent run-out and run-in in front of the physical cluster from whichoverwriting starts, and a run-in and a run-out are formed respectivelyin front of and behind every physical cluster to allow the data to beaccurately recorded.
 48. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the processorrecords the guard3 for terminating the recording in a run-in next to arun-out following the physical cluster in which overwriting ends, andforms a run-in and a run-out respectively in front of and behind everyphysical cluster to allow the processor to accurately record the data.49. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the optical pickup includes alight source emitting the light beam having a celadon green wavelengthfor use when the data is recorded in or reproduced from the opticaldisk.
 50. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the optical pickup includesan objective lens having a numerical aperture of at least 0.7 for use infocusing the light beam on the optical disk when the data is recorded inor reproduced from the optical disk.
 51. The apparatus of claim 2,wherein the optical disk has a track pitch of no greater than 0.35 μm, aminimum recording mark having a length of no greater than 0.2 μm, and anerror correction code (ECC) recording unit of at least 32 KB.
 52. Theapparatus of claim 13, wherein the processor forms a run-in and arun-out respectively in front of and behind every physical cluster toallow the processor to accurately record the data.
 53. The apparatus ofclaim 16, wherein the run-in and the run-out comprise a guard1 and aguard2, respectively, which the processor uses in protecting user data.54. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the guard3 has a length of atleast 300 channelbits and a continuous pattern including at least 3T and5T.
 55. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the processor further recordsa guard3 in a portion following a physical cluster in which overwritingends, and the processor uses the guard3 for terminating the recording.56. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the optical pickup includes alight source emitting the light beam having a celadon green wavelengthfor use when the data is recorded in or reproduced from the opticaldisk.
 57. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the optical pickup includesan objective lens having a numerical aperture of at least 0.7 for use infocusing the light beam on the optical disk when the data is recorded inor reproduced from the optical disk.
 58. The apparatus of claim 13,wherein the optical disk has a track pitch of no greater than 0.35 μm, aminimum recording mark having a length of no greater than 0.2 μm, and anerror correction code (ECC) recording unit of at least 32 KB.
 59. Theapparatus of claim 26, wherein each of the run-ins comprises a guard1,and each of the run-outs comprises guard2, which the processor uses toprotect user data.
 60. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the opticalpickup includes a light source emitting the light beam having a celadongreen wavelength for use when the data is recorded in or reproduced fromthe optical disk.
 61. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the opticalpickup includes an objective lens having a numerical aperture of atleast 0.7 for use in focusing the light beam on the optical disk whenthe data is recorded in or reproduced from the optical disk.
 62. Theapparatus of claim 26, wherein the optical disk has a track pitch of nogreater than 0.35 μm, a minimum recording mark having a length of nogreater than 0.2 μm, and an error correction code (ECC) recording unitof at least 32 KB.
 63. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the processorrecords a guard3 in a run-in following the partial area on whichoverwriting is performed, and the processor uses the guard3 forterminating the recording.
 64. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein eachof the run-ins comprises a guard1, and each of the run-outs comprisesguard2, which the processor uses to protect user data.